Drapes for covering patients during surgery are well-known. These drapes form a sterile environment around the patient and a sterile work area for the surgical team. The sterile environment is maintained until the drape is breached.
As surgery has become more specialized, drapes adapted for specific surgeries have been developed. Extremity surgery (e.g., arm, hand, leg, foot) is one such specialty. Many attempts have been made in the prior art to create an extremity drape for universal application; i.e., a drape for use with any extremity of a patient regardless of age or size. Past attempts to design a universal extremity drape generally incorporated three modifications to the general surgical drape: first, an overall T-shape; second, inclusion of a rubber dam having an opening for the extremity to pass through; and third, reinforcing the drape in the area where the extremity lies during surgery.
The T-shape allows for surgery on an arm in its natural out-stretched position; i.e., perpendicular to the body. Integration of a rubber dam having an opening allows the body to remain covered by the drape while the extremity is placed through the opening in the rubber dam. The elastomeric qualities of the rubber dam tightly engage the extremity, thus maintaining the sterile environment under the drape. Reinforcing the drape reduces accidental tearing. A tear in the drape may breach the sterile surgical environment from, for example, improper instrument handling.
Nevertheless, extremity drapes in the prior art do not solve certain specific problems. In many instances prior art drapes are not large enough to cover a patient's entire body, and the surgical team ends up covering the patient with two or more drapes. Second, the dam opening in the prior art is often too large to tightly engage the extremities of a child. Loose engagement provides a path for easy transmission of infection to the patient. Third, prior art drapes do not provide a large enough reinforcement area adjacent to the dam to prevent accidental tearing of the drape when surgery is conducted near the dam. Finally, the absence of any structure integrated with the drape to hold cords immobile during surgery forces the surgical team to immobilize cords using methods which are likely to tear the drape, and thereby breaching the sterile surgical environment.
The present invention solves each of these four problems. First, a larger drape, having a specific shape, is contemplated to completely cover any size patient from an infant to a full- size adult. Second, the invention contemplates an opening through the dam small enough to tightly engage even the extremities of an infant. Third, the present invention provides a larger reinforced work area around the dam, reducing the possibility of accidental tearing of the drape while operating near the dam. Finally, the invention integrates unique cord stays to the drape allowing the surgical team to immobilize cords without increasing the risk of tearing the drape.